BEIJING — China saw faster growth in natural gas output last month, according to official data.

The output jumped 12.7 percent year-on-year to 15.9 billion cubic meters in May, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

Average daily production hit 510 million cubic meters.

In the first five months of this year, the country's natural gas production gained 10.1 percent year-on-year to 78.8 billion cubic meters.

The country's natural gas imports ticked up 3.7 percent from a year ago to 7.84 million tons last month, according to the NBS.